Markets

Cantor Shuts Offices in Frankfurt, Paris

Cantor Fitzgerald will close offices in Frankfurt, Germany, and Paris, as the bond broker that lost about 700 employees in the World Trade Center attacks seeks to reduce expenses.

The firm, which before last month handled about one-quarter of the trades in the $3-trillion U.S. government bond market, shifted most trading to its ESpeed Inc. unit, an electronic trading system.

"Trading can take place anywhere" as a result of advances in electronic trading, said Tony Tucker, managing director of Executive Resourcing Group, a recruiting agency. Last month's events probably forced Cantor Fitzgerald "to bring forward some of the things happening in the industry anyway."

The broker's customers in Germany and France can continue trading electronically, spokeswoman Cara Kiewel said. The 48 staff members affected have been offered positions in London, Kiewel said.